Soledad O'Brien
Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brienis an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. She is the chairman of Starfish Media Group, a multi-platform media production company and distributor. O'Brien continues to be a television anchor and correspondent and lists CNN, HBO and their sports news program Real Sports and the Al Jazeera America news program America Tonight, among a growing list of networks she is working with through her Starfish Media Group. She also served as executive producer and moderator...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNews Anchor
Date of Birth19 September 1966
CitySt. James, NY
CountryUnited States of America
We struck an unusual deal. I'll get to leave CNN with my catalog and documentaries. We were able to create a brand at CNN - 'Black in America' - that I now own. I can take that brand and extend it in any way I want.
I started a lecture series that was inspired by my reporting on race in America. The 'Black in America' series launched on CNN in 2007 as an opportunity to freshen the national conversation on race.
My trademark at CNN was really asking insightful questions and making sure people are understanding the connections in humanity, and I think that is the core of education.
As CNN saw our growth in African-American viewership, they affirmed a fundamental truth of news coverage - people will watch you if they see themselves in what you report. It doesn't hurt if the people doing the reporting look like them, too.
I've been speaking in many places on the subject of peace, on the conceptualizing of peace,
While there is still some kind of litigation pending, why not wait?
I've had the great good fortune over the last probably decade of getting to work together with His Holiness the Dalai Lama . ... I've learned to tell the truth in a more compassionate way. I'm trying to be a kinder and gentler speaker.
Oh, my goodness, this sounds to me like a kid who is planning on shooting up our school?
What I think is great style advice that people have told me is that people who are confident look beautiful. No matter what they're wearing, no matter if they're inappropriately dressed, no matter if their hair's not really done right, eyebrows haven't been tweezed.
The thing I love about political interviews is, if you're really prepared, you can make great headway because these are the people for whom, theoretically at least, the buck stops.
Stories, as we're taught in journalism school early on, are told through people. Those stories make our documentaries powerful. You can explore someone's culture, you can explore their experience, you can explore an issue through human beings who are going through it.
I would say I'm black because my parents said I'm black. I'm black because my mother's black. I'm black because I grew up in a family of all black people. I knew I was black because I grew up in an all-white neighborhood. And my parents, as part of their protective mechanisms that they were going to give to us, made it very clear what we were.
CoverGirl's Girls CAN movement is perfectly aligned with my passion for helping young women overcome life's challenges, and my commitment to highlighting girls' successes. I am thrilled to partner with CoverGirl to embark on this exciting journey to improve the lives of girls and women in the world.
Investing in girls can actually move the needle in communities... and can actually benefit boys, because girls are the mothers of boys.